A cyclist who submitted video of two close passes made on him by drivers despite a solid white line being painted on the road has expressed his frustration that no action was taken against the motorists other than to send them warning letters.

The footage was shot by road.cc reader BucksCycleCammer, who told us: “Heading down from Windsor to the Great Park, I was subject to several close passes within half a mile. These two were the worst, with the Volvo being no more than a foot away.

“This was reported to Thames Valley Police (TVP) on 16 August, to which they replied by letter dated 18 August. Top marks for speed of response; unfortunately, not so much for the response itself:

After careful consideration of the available evidence and surrounding circumstances, it has been decided that the most appropriate course of action is to officially warn the keepers of [the vehicles] regarding their close passes.

On studying the video evidence it is clear that the drivers did not allow sufficient distance when passing. The Highway Code states, you must give a cyclist as much room as another car when overtaking. It is recommended that you allow a minimum overtake distance of 1.5 metres.

If the drivers commits [sic] any further offences, of a similar nature, then consideration will be given to taking further Police action.

“Having seen this exact wording and punctuation before, it's clear that this is a standard template letter. This in itself would be fine, but it's becoming clear that TVP is also following a standard template response to close passes: of the 16 responses I've actually had to close pass reports this year (most reports have not received any response as yet), every single one has resulted in a warning or 'advice' – including a couple of uninsured and/or non-MOTd vehicles. In contrast, the single report to Devon & Cornwall resulted in notification that a NIP [Notice of Intended Prosecution] was being sent. I suppose that TVP is still slightly ahead of Surrey and Hants, however, who don't provide any outcome at all.

“Given the distance involved in the second instance, I have asked TVP to confirm exactly how close a motor vehicle may pass a cyclist before they will consider taking further action, or whether actual contact is required in order to issue a NIP. On previous form, I'm not counting on a response.”

https://road.cc/content/news/near-miss-day-627-close-passes-over-solid-white-line-285815